RATIONALE: Imatinib mesylate may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as hydroxyurea, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving imatinib mesylate together with hydroxyurea may kill more tumor cells.

PURPOSE: This phase II trial is studying how well giving imatinib mesylate together with hydroxyurea works in treating patients with recurrent or progressive meningioma.

Progression-free Survival at 6 Months [ Time Frame: From the date of study treatment initiation to the date of the first documented progression or death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 69 months. For each participant, PFS was assessed at 6 months after treatment initiation. ]

Percentage of participants surviving six months from the start of study treatment without progression of disease. PFS was defined as the time from the date of study treatment initiation to the date of the first documented progression according to the Macdonald criteria, or death due to any cause.

Secondary Outcome Measures:

Median Progression-free Survival (PFS) [ Time Frame: From the date of study treatment initiation to the date of the first documented progression or death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 69 months. ]

Time in months from the start of study treatment to the date of first progression according to Macdonald criteria, or to death due to any cause. Patients alive who had not progressed as of the last follow-up had PFS censored at the last follow-up date. Median PFS was estimated using a Kaplan-Meier curve.

Median Overall Survival (OS) [ Time Frame: From the date of study treatment initiation to the date of death from any cause, assessed up to 69 months. ]

Time in months from the start of study treatment to date of death due to any cause. Patients alive at last follow-up are censored as of that follow-up date. Median OS was estimated using a Kaplan-Meier curve.

Objective Response Rate [ Time Frame: 69 Months ]

Percentage of participants with an objective response (complete response or partial response). Per modified Macdonald criteria and assessed by MRI, complete response (CR) was the disappearance of all target lesions and partial response (PR) was a ≥50% decrease in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions. Objective response = CR+PR.

All patients receive imatinib mesylate and hydroxyurea orally on a daily, continuous basis. Dosing of imatinib mesylate is adjusted for patients who are also receiving p450-inducing anti-epileptic drugs.

Drug: hydroxyurea

Hydroxyurea is administered orally twice a day. The dose will be set at 500 mg twice a day for all patients. If vomiting occurs not additional trial medication should be taken that day in an effort to replace the material that has been vomited. It is recommended that patients take their prescribed hydroxyurea at the same time that they take their prescribed imatinib mesylate, however, a 30-60 minute interval between agents is acceptable, if required for practical or other compliance issues.

If patients who were not on Cytochrome P450, family 3, subfamily A (CYP3A) enzyme-reducing anti-epileptic drug (EIAED) when originally enrolled must initiate CYP3A enzyme-inducing anti-epileptic drug while on study, study regimen will remain same for minimum of 2 wks before pt transitions to dosing as specified for patients on anti-epileptic drug. If patients originally enrolled must discontinue all EIAEDs while on study, in interest of patient safety, dosing of study regimen will transition to that of patients not on anti-epileptics immediately.

Other Name: Gleevec

Detailed Description:

OBJECTIVES:

Primary

Evaluate the activity of imatinib mesylate and hydroxyurea, as measured by 6-month progression-free survival, in patients with recurrent or progressive meningioma.

Secondary

Evaluate the progression-free survival (PFS)

Overall survival (OS),

Objective response rate among patients treated with this regimen.

OUTLINE: This is an open-label study.

Patients receive oral imatinib mesylate once or twice daily and oral hydroxyurea twice daily on days 1-28. Courses repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 21 patients will be accrued for this study.

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and older (Adult, Senior)

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

No

Criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Histologically confirmed meningioma

Recurrent or progressive disease after prior surgical resection

Measurable disease by contrast-enhanced MRI

Multifocal disease allowed

No evidence of intratumor hemorrhage on pretreatment diagnostic imaging

No concurrent warfarin NOTE: *Unless there is unequivocal evidence of tumor progression

Contacts and Locations

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00354913